The impact of the presence of fibromyalgia on illness perceptions and coping strategies in hiv infected patients: preliminary study

BackgroundCoexisting fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) to the chronic diseases and its negative impact on global health status in these diseases has been identified. Recent treatment strategies have changed HIV from a terminal disease to a chronic condition that requires great effort because of regular treatment and periodic medical screenings. The prevalence of fibromyalgia has been reported in HIV patients as 1-17%. It was reported that greater illness perceptions are associated with dysfunctional coping strategies in HIV patients with detectable or high viral load. There are no data on illness perceptions and coping strategies in HIV patients with FMS.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the presence of fibromyalgia on illness perceptions and coping strategies in HIV infected patients.MethodsData about illness perceptions by The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief-IPQ) and coping strategies by the COPE questionnaire were collected from 79 HIV patients. FMS was determined according to 2010 American College of Rheumatology criteria. CD4+ cell counts, viral load, and disease duration were also noted. Kolmogorov Smirnov test, chi-square test, Mann Whitney-U test, Spearman correlation analysis, and Univariate analysis of variance were used for statistical analyses.ResultsPatients were aged between 22 and 77 years, with a mean age of 44.63±10.7 years. Thirteen patients (16.5%) were diagnosed with FMS and of those 4 (30.8%) were women. Cognitive illness representations and emotional representations scores were higher in HIV patients with FMS than those without FMS (p<0.05). Disease duration, HIV-progression biomarkers (CD4+ and viral load), COPE questionnaire scores, and illness comprehensibility sub scores of Brief-IPQ were not different between the HIV patients with and without FMS (p>0.05). The significant effect of the presence of FMS on cognitive illness representations (p<0.001) and emotional representations (p<0.05) was found by univariate analysis of variance in patients with HIV.ConclusionAccording to the preliminary results of this study, FMS was detected 16.3% of 79 HIV patients and coexisting FMS was associated with increased cognitive and emotional representations in patients with HIV. Coping strategies were not affected by the comorbid FMS. The presence of FMS may adversely affect perceptions of the disease in HIV infected patients. Since the patients’ beliefs about their illness have great importance in the patients’ health outcomes and the understanding of the disease, physicians should be aware of the possibility of concomitant FMS in patients with HIV.References[1]Demirdal US, Bilir N, Demirdal T. The effect of concomitant fibromyalgia in HIV infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy: a prospective cross‑sectional study. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob 2019; 18(1):31.[2]Fitzcharles MA, Perrot S, Hauser W. Comorbid fibromyalgia: A qualitative review of prevalence and importance. Eur J Pain 2018; 22(9):1565-76.[3]Fox C, Walker-Bone K. Evolving spectrum of HIV-associated rheumatic syndromes. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2015; 29(2): 244-58.[4]Pala AN, Steca P. Illness perceptions and coping strategies among individuals diagnosed with HIV. J Behav Med. 2015; 38(4):620-31.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared